him to mortal combat; and, though the stain of murder be upon that man's
soul, women who call themselves virtuous will welcome him with approving
smiles.

"Why, I have been completely disgusted, and that more than once, to hear
women of the most exemplary character praise and hang upon the words of
these smooth-tongued villains. I have now in my mind one in particular,
whom the world looks upon as a devoted wife and mother, and who I think
has never yet contemplated sin. Yet I know better than herself, that she
is hovering on the brink of a precipice, that may, at some future day,
engulf all she loves, with herself, in one common ruin.

"Society, as it is now constituted, is dangerous, and calculated to
contaminate any pure-minded woman who enters it, unless she be blessed
with sufficient decision of character to choose a strict line of conduct
and abide by it, at the risk of being called dull, prudish, and
uninteresting.

"Those of the old school, with their rigid notions of etiquette, their
stately courtesy, and grave, dignified manners, were far preferable to
the style assumed by Young America at the present day. Although not
deficient in a love for my country, I hardly wonder that the people of
the European cities which Americans visit complain that these 'plebeian
Yankees,' with their 'loud' style, their fussy dressing to the extreme
of fashion, their slang, and their still more intolerable 'double
_entendre_,' exert an unfavorable influence upon society, and
'_desecrate_' the places where they tread."

"I believe you are right," said Mrs. Hardyng; "and it has struck me
oddly enough that we, who are so extremely opposite in every respect,
should find so many subjects upon which to agree. I have often grieved
over these foibles of our sex, not having failed to observe, with
regret, that there are fewer exceptions than there should be.

"Now, I should think, from the very nature of things, that a woman would
always instinctively defend her own sex, and hurl contempt and scorn at
those who basely sought to take advantage of her weakness. There seems
to me to be _one_, all-powerful reason why they should do this, and it
has puzzled me exceedingly to know _why_, with the self-love that all
women possess in common with each other, and their natural tendency to
jealousy, they should feel at all elated at a tale of flattery that they
_know_ has been rehearsed before, as often as there has been found one
to listen.